1 The Debate: who is the Greatest Snooker Player of All time, Ronnie O'Sullivan Or Stephen Hendry?

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Two members of the bet365 News group argument who the best player in snooker history is, Ronnie O'Sullivan or Stephen Hendry.

There's a case for both to be made, one developed himself as the dominant force in the 1990s, winning a remarkable seven world titles across the years, whilst the other has shown to have a genuinely unrivaled durability at the top of the sport, remaining at the top a shocking three years on from capturing his first ranking crown.

It's a topic that draws so much intrigue and interest each and every year, and a debate that might extremely well rage on for ever more.

Sport isn't about skill, it's about winning, and no one knew how to win rather like Stephen Hendry, writes Liam Williams ...

While there's extremely little to separate Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry, O'Sullivan himself - a male it's not easy to draw out appreciation from - declared Hendry to be the much better of the 2, while Hendry concurred, stating that he 'd fancy himself over a four-session match to triumph each time.

O'Sullivan's mental fights off the baize have no doubt affected his career, and it's a testament to his perseverance that he's kept a 30-year career at the top of the game. But so much of snooker - certainly at the elite level-- is simply as much about what goes on between your ears as on the table itself, and throughout his profession, O'Sullivan's temperament has been discovered wanting in such a way Hendry's was not.

Memorably at the 2005 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon's slow play left Ronnie exasperated - Ebdon obviously wasn't an easy opponent, and in fact beat Hendry in a world final - with the Rocket losing all focus and blowing a cause leave a tournament he probably need to have won. It was a psychological blip that Hendry simply didn't have in his locker.

While there was a method to beat O'Sullivan - nevertheless unseemly - throughout the 1990s, Hendry was almost robotic. He admitted he didn't hang out with any other players socially lest it shatter his invincible, ice-man aura, and while some gamers struggle with having the target of being the world's finest gamer on their back, Hendry loved it, believing there were lots of players who were beaten before playing a shot.

Hendry didn't simply have the ability to end up being the very best player worldwide, but the resilience to ensure he remained there.

From the 1989 UK Championship until the 1996 UK Championship there were 22 Triple Crown occasions; Hendry won 13 of them. Playing the finest gamers on the planet in a seven-year spell, Hendry would win majority of snooker's biggest tournaments, consisting of winning all 3 in 2 various seasons; in 11 years, Hendry won his record-setting 18 Triple Crown occasions, and while O'Sullivan would later on eclipse him with 23, they were amassed over 32 years.

Between 1989 and 1993, Hendry won five successive Masters titles. Between 1992 and 1996, Hendry won five consecutive world titles. Steve Davis never ever managed more than 3 world crowns on the bounce and O'Sullivan never handled more than two. It's a level of supremacy we're unlikely to see in the game once again.

Hendry admitted that once he 'd Steve Davis's six World Championship wins, his cravings subsided, though there were other concerns, such as his hint being broken in transit and a suffering with the yips, however no one has ever dominated the game rather like Hendry.

When O'Sullivan has actually been at his absolute best, he's been untouchable, playing the game in a manner simple mortals could just dream of. Unfortunately for O'Sullivan, that level hasn't been as frequently as it may have.